planetary

American  

[plan-i-ter-ee] / ˈplæn ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a planet or the planets.

2. wandering; erratic.

3. terrestrial; global.

4. Machinery. noting or pertaining to an epicyclic gear train in which a sun gear is linked to one or more planet gears also engaging with an encircling ring gear.

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noun

1. Machinery. a planetary gear train.

planetary British  

/ ˈplænɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. of or relating to a planet

2. mundane; terrestrial

3. wandering or erratic

4. astrology under the influence of one of the planets

5. (of a gear, esp an epicyclic gear) having an axis that rotates around that of another gear

6. (of an electron) having an orbit around the nucleus of an atom

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noun

1. a train of planetary gears

Other Word Forms

• nonplanetary adjective

Etymology

Origin of planetary

From the Latin word planētārius, dating back to 1585–95. See planet, -ary

Example Sentences

"The Moon has got the same elements in it that we have here on Earth," says Prof Sara Russell, a planetary scientist at the Natural History Museum.

From BBC

The vast, oceanic, planetary gobs of money to build out AI, which investors were supposed to provide without immediate return, will have to come from somebody else—actual customers.

From The Wall Street Journal

To Jef Caers, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Stanford University who happens to be Belgian, the museum’s stance looks like “delay tactics.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Understanding how this wetter world transformed into the barren landscape we see now remains a major question in planetary science.

From Science Daily

That means astronomers could use them to better understand how stellar particles influence planetary environments.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• global
• terrestrial